DIY

From concept to finsihed piece Danielle Evans creates incredible pieces of art using various mediums for clients Target, Romano's Macaroni Grill and Kellogg. Her style is freeform and specializes in hand lettering to create stunning scenes with perfect lighting to match the feel she is looking for.

Photographer Markus Berger from The Cooperative of Photography put together a quick two and a half minute video demonstrating some really cool photography tips using everyday household objects. From a simple beer coozy to a flaming aerosol can, Markus points out some creative ways to step up your photography game.

We all have a half-dozen or so USB thumb drives laying around. You know, the ones you bought to replace the ones you thought you lost, but then found a week later? Maybe they were free at a trade show? I had my fair share and decided to do something about it: I created my new favorite and totally portable live-work "SSD." Considering I just needed one, $16 accessory, it all seemed pretty reasonable to me.

This little DIY "hack" from MrCheesyCam on YouTube shows you how to add a 3 stop ND filter to lenses that you might otherwise not be able to (such as the MFT Rokinon Fisheye as shown in the video). All the components needed for this nifty little mod cost well under $10.

The RagLite LED systems are a product seeking backing on Kickstarter to do a production run of what appear to be LED strips on fabric that can be rolled up, powered by battery, are waterproof, and claim a CRI of 95. With several rewards being offered, including various sizes of their light, they seek to raise about $25,000. Read on for their video and more information on these unique lights.

During an initial meeting with local publication NFocus Magazine, the Editor-In-Chief asked for a unique aesthetic on Louisville's theater and arts community and wanted a massive group shot, but not your traditional group shot. I threw out the idea to shoot actors and their "characters" from directly overhead on a theater floor, as if they were action figures laid out and organized. Two seconds after I uttered the idea, I realized I had no clue how I would pull it all off.

There are days when living in a tiny New York City apartment really suck. Like when you just watched a cool DIY video on how to make holograms at home and that creates a burning desire to experiment yourself. Watch this video to see how you can make make your own holograms wih glass, mirrors, a projector and some fog, mist or steam.

Photographer J. David Buerk was sitting around one Sunday morning with his Lubitel 2 TLR with plans of making a disassembly and cleaning tutorial when he decided to try to retrofit the lens to his Canon gear. This simple project takes advantage of the beautifully unique 75mm f/4.5 lens.

Photographer Sam Hurd is sharing yet another one of his artistic photography techniques with his followers. He mastered The Brenizer Method, he basically had all of Amazon on backorder for Prisming, he ripped the lens mount right off his 50mm for Freelensing, and then he did some convex Lens Chimping. This time around, Sam attached an old anamorphic movie lens to his 85mm in order to shoot a very cinematic wide field of view. Take a look at how it works!

Leo Rosas recently made a YouTube video for The Cooperative of Photography (TheCooph) that featured 7 little DIY photography mods, including a simple GoPro time-lapse setup, DIY creative effect filters, a flash diffuser and an ND filter. While it's not the first time we've seen many of these little projects (like the GoPro kitchen-timer), the video certainly got me thinking.

Every photographer, at some point in their career, will have an internal debate to accept or decline a job because they may feel insecure about having the right skill sets or gear to complete the job. Personally, I have found myself accepting certain jobs and a few hours later, I wonder if I made a mistake in accepting the job since I may muck up a huge opportunity. A few days ago, I was offered a job that, at first, I did not think I could execute. Luckily though, I talked myself down the ledge and remembered I was in fact prepared for it.

As far as product photography instruction goes, it's not too common to see a good (free) tutorial video that breaks down the tricks behind capturing challenging cosmetic products. Nikonian Academy trainer Andrew Boey not only makes this topic very approachable, he shows you how to do it on the cheap.

Videographers and event photographers are all to familiar with the frustration of constantly switching out the tiny internal batteries of DSLRs. On a good day you can get a thousand or so still images or just a couple hours of video before switching the batteries. This simple little mod from Chris Winter shows you hot to build a hardcore external battery that boasts roughly 9x the capacity of the standard internal batteries.

Today, Stefan Kohler shared a look at his mammoth pan / tilt head for large lenses on DIY Photography. The rig pictured below shows Stefan's D800 and the Nikkor 400mm f/2.8 lens — at a combined weight of 11.7 pounds. Here's a look at how he built it.

Photojournalist Jonas Ginter always wanted to take the idea of the still-2D spherical panoramas and somehow make them in video format. It took him 2 years to develop the idea and tools, but finally last week he achieved his goal. Jonas used a 3D printer to build a special mount that holds 6 GoPro cameras, and placed them as close as possible to each other to make sure they overlap. The result is simply great.